The Titian Thread
The month in fashion, condensed.
Hey there,
Could you give up buying new clothes for 90 days straight? For some, it'd be a breeze. For others (myself included) it takes a fair amount of willpower to close the tabs and put down the bank card (who am I kidding, I know the numbers like the back of my hand). Last year, I took the pledge to do Remake's No New Clothes challenge, which is back again starting from tomorrow, June 1st. Fancy joining me?
I don't think I'm alone in admitting that retail therapy has been a bit of a crutch in the last year when there has been very little else to spend money on. I found myself buying a new dress despite having nowhere to wear it (still don't to be honest) or treating myself to a bag if I achieved something, no matter how benign.
My latest thing, after getting a new piercing, has been earrings – I've probably scrolled through every UK jewellery brand imaginable and looked at every huggie hoop under the sun, despite only having two new available spots to fill. While I don't buy much, and I try to buy from independent brands, it's the endless browsing that I'm ready to take a break from.
That's not to say that you can't shop or enjoy clothing while taking on Remake's challenge. You could try renting from a platform like Rotaro, a company I profiled this month. Or if you're looking for something specific, try and find it in Beyond Retro's enormous inventory (they do great blazers and shirts – just steer clear of synthetic fabrics and you can find some gems!) Maybe all this newfound free time is a good opportunity to take stock of what you already have in your wardrobe by using an app like Whering to catalogue and create some new outfit ideas.
Scroll through to my to-do list to learn more about Remake's No New Clothes Challenge, and if you're up for it, sign up on their website.
Until next time, hit the reply button to share your thoughts or feedback!
Meg X
Stories I Wrote
Adaptive Clothing Will Be the Next Big Ethical Fashion Trend for EcoCult.
The market for adaptive fashion is largely untapped, even though it has an expected global value of $349.9 billion by 2023. I got to speak with Stephanie Thomas, a disabled fashion stylist in the US, to learn more about the fashion industry's slowly shifting attitude to dressing for disabilities.
Inside Rental Platform Rotaro’s Mission To Transform The Fashion Industry for the Forward Lab.
If the idea of ‘revenge shopping’ your way into the ‘Roaring Twenties’ has left you feeling a little conflicted, you’re not alone. How do we reconcile a heightened collective awareness of fashion’s environmental and human impact, with the gradual lifting of lockdown restrictions and ever-increasing reasons to get dressed up? Enter fashion rental platform Rotaro.
Stories I didn’t write
How Sustainable Fashion Is Finally Becoming Less Elitist by Raquel Laneri for Bustle. Until recently, the sustainable fashion space was very white, middle class and inaccessible, but thankfully that's changing.
Don’t Let Consumerism Co-opt the Zero-Waste Concept by Alden Wicker for Yes Magazine. "The movement began as anti-consumerist. Yet now there are marketing ploys, feelings of inadequacy, and misplaced responsibility," says Wicker.
Overconsumption and the Environment: Should We All Stop Shopping? by Jamie Waters for the Guardian. What would happen if the world stopped shopping overnight? Total chaos. But it's an interesting hypothetical that Waters explores in this Guardian piece.
This Anti-Greenwashing Web Plugin Blocks You From Viewing Unsustainable Fashion Brands by Kristin Toussaint for Fast Company. A group of students in London have founded shADe, an AI-powered web plug in that "blocks the digital marketing from companies with poor sustainability scores, and instead suggests items from brands that have the data to back up their environmental claims." Brilliant!
The Secondhand Market Is Booming, But Not Everyone Is Buying It by Whitney Bauck for Refinery29. I really enjoyed this piece by Bauck on the reason why second-hand shopping isn't universally loved, including shame, cultural suspicions and sizing.
What Goes Into the Pricing of Sustainable Fashion? by Hasina Khatib for Vogue India. A cost breakdown for why sustainable fashion costs more than fast fashion. Spoiler, it's because the price tag reflects the actual cost of a garment, not the bargain prices we've become so accustom to.
The Elegance Of Shredded, Worn, Loved-To-Death Clothes by Kathleen Garrison. This is a fantastic piece that interviews three young skaters in New York on their clothing, and why skater style is part of their personal philosophy.
The To-Do List
Remake's No New Clothes Challenge runs from June 1st until September 1st. I did it last year, and it was surprisingly refreshing to not think about my next purchase or mindlessly window-shop Instagram. It's also a great exercise in finding eco-alternatives like vintage and second-hand shops, or even renting your clothes!
Earlier this month, sustainable fashion journalist Clare Press launched the newest addition to her Wardrobe Crisis offering (which already includes a book, podcast, and online platform) with a 6-week sustainable fashion 101 course! It's an affordable way to get up to speed on the industry, led by experts in the field.
This month I've been trying out Latitude, a recently relaunched fashion app that helps you get dressed based on the weather in your location, and outfit suggestions shared by their community. London's weather has been pretty unpredictable lately, so this is super handy if you're like me and constantly end up too hot or cold wherever you go!